Tuesday, May 31, 2011

LEVEL UP Creators Yang and Pham Debut New Graphic Novel at Flying Colors

When award-winning artist/writer Gene Luen Yang and up-and-coming artist Thien Pham debut their graphic novel LEVEL UP at Flying Colors Comics in Concord CA this weekend, they’ll be hoping to accomplish something that touches on the theme of their new book.

LEVEL UP centers on the conflicted character Dennis Ouyang who lives in the shadow of his parents’ high expectations. They want him to become a doctor---he just wants to play video games.To find out more, Yang, Pham and Flying Colors owner Joe Field are asking all video gamers, along with comics fans, of course, to turn off their video games, get off their couches and visit Flying Colors Comics on June 4th from 1:30PM-4PM to check out LEVEL UP and witness a demonstration of Live Art in the making, as Yang and Pham go at it in an EPIC DRAW-OFF!

Now just what is an EPIC DRAW-OFF? Here’s the way Gene Yang describes it: “While I talk a bit about how I got started in comics, Thien will illustrate my story as I speak.Then, he will talk about how he got started, and I'll illustrate Thien’s story.After, it’ll be a competition using suggestions from the audience.”

In addition to the Live Art demonstration, Flying Colors will have an exclusive bookplate for the artists to sign in the brand new LEVEL UP graphic novel.

“I have been a fan of Gene’s work since he did DUNCAN’S KINGDOM for Image Comics in 1999,” said Flying Colors owner Joe Field. “ Looking at his body of work in the 12 years since, including the award-winning AMERICAN BORN CHINESE and ETERNAL SMILE, I am thrilled to finally have Gene visit Flying Colors. Seeing Thien Pham’s work on LEVEL UP also leads me to believe that his star is rising among cartoonists.”

I'd like to thank everyone who visited Flying Colors on FCBD. If you were one of the 250+ first-time visitors, we'd love to get your thoughts about the event and our store--- and we invite you back to see us when we're not quite so crazy.

For everyone who makes Flying Colors your comic shop every week, please accept the thanks of everyone on staff here. It's a challenge to keep a small business going strong these days, so each and every sale and every relationship with those who shop here are important to us.

We are always looking for ways to improve our service to you, including our current project of installing Point-of-Sale equipment that will hopefully increase our efficiency.

Free Comic Book Day may have been my idea ten years ago, but seeing the remarkable things this event has done for the entire comics world is really encouraging. Many of my comics retailer colleagues in the U.S., Canada and 40 other countries bring energy, creativity and enthusiasm to FCBD, making it a very special community event that is now the world's largest annual comics' event. All of this shows just how current the comics' medium is--- and how vital comic book specialty stores are to our local communities.

As I mentioned to a number of reporters I talked with leading up to FCBD, if you want to find the Next Big Thing, frequently visit your well-stocked local comic shop. If you want to read and absorb the ideas that will be developed in other, more passive mass media later, read comics today. Comics ARE the cool and creative nerve-center of visual entertainment--- the sugary core of pop culture.

About Me

Comics Guru at the world-renowned Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool
Stuff. Founder of Free Comic Book Day, the world's largest annual comic book event. Director and former president of
ComicsPRO, the retailer trade association. Recipient of the Will Eisner "Spirit of Comics" Award
for Comics Specialty Retailing Excellence.